What is headphone impedance?

If you remember the distant nineties, when buying headphones, the buyer was happy that the sound was loud, even if crackling and wheezing were heard in them.

In the twenty-first century, people have become spoiled by cool gadgets and a large selection of goods. You can choose miniature so-called earbuds or impressive headphones for your computer. There are wired and wireless ones from a variety of manufacturers, both European and Chinese.

Moreover, when buying them, we pay attention, first of all, to the design and cool brand of the manufacturer, but we rarely take into account the technical parameters. Paying attention to which is actually very important. Always take with you a specialist who understands headphones and audio equipment. You won't have to regret wasted money. Moreover, he will tell you that in truly cool models such a parameter as impedance is important.

What does it mean? We'll tell you in our article and find out which is better: low resistance or high? How does it affect work, and what types of headphones are definitely worth buying so as not to waste your money.

Headphone impedance - what is it?

It’s worth starting with the very definition of “impedance”. Essentially, it represents the resistance, purely nominal, that occurs at the input of the headphones.

Derived from the English expression impedance, the translation of which can be roughly translated as complete resistance. It is formed by the following components:

• resistive
• reactive

For the most part, resistance is affected by frequency; this is a very important fact that should not be forgotten. And also the resistance of the headphones is directly related to the voltage.

How does impedance work?

The choice of headphones should be approached taking into account their impedance. An important nuance is the type of technology. In the aggregate with which you will use them. Let's look at which technical gadgets (phones) this or that type is suitable for:

• For portable equipment, a choice with a lower impedance is recommended,
• For those who purchase the product for stationary objects, a higher impedance is needed.

Is there a golden mean? Certainly. The best impedance would be:

• intended for portable devices, has a resistance of sixteen to twenty ohms.
• For the latest European sound-reproducing devices, the impedance is excellent and will be exactly sixteen ohms.

Interesting Facts: Previously, in the seventies, preference was given to a high level of impedance, because the output power of equipment of that period was often overestimated. Then resistors began to be used, which reduced the output voltage.

In the nineties, technical standards for their resistance were finalized. It became one hundred and twenty OM. By the 2000s, low-resistance designs gradually began to gain popularity. After all, it was at that time that the creation of iPods began - players and other more advanced sound-reproducing devices.

To summarize the general characteristics, we note that impedance is one of the important technical indicators, which has a significant impact on the performance of headphones.If you choose a type with the wrong resistance, you risk simply throwing money away. The reproduction will be disgusting, and the product will quickly become unusable. So take this important factor into account when purchasing a particular model.

What does headphone impedance mean?

Now let's take a closer look at what resistance means. In fact, this is one of the technical parameters that ensures the correct operation of sound-reproducing devices. The lower the resistance, the greater the acoustic power of a particular brand. Impedance is measured in Ohms, as mentioned earlier.

The technical indicator impedance divides the headphones themselves into two types:

• High resistance - the resistance of this type is usually higher than sixty ohms
• Low resistance - resistance from thirteen to thirty-two ohms

But here it is important to note one nuance - headphones also come in-ear, full-size. And these categories will have their own kind of resistance. Let's give an example:

• Full-size headphones set a kind of resistance bar. Less than a hundred ohms will be considered low impedance for them. Those over a hundred are tall.
• In-ear headphones: low impedance for them means no more than thirty ohms. Any specialist would call those whose resistance exceeds the permissible threshold of thirty as high-resistance.

When choosing them, do not ignore the impedance they have. Believe me, it is not for nothing that it is listed as one of the first in the technical parameters of the object. When choosing yours, you should pay special attention to these details:

• For portable players and computer audio cards, it is recommended to have a low impedance - in the range from thirty to eighty ohms.
• For stationary sound systems - a resistance of three hundred ohms or more.

Increased resistance is necessary in order for small membranes to cope with a fairly strong impulse from the so-called source. In this case, the ears should not be harmed. The level of interference decreases at high impedance. More specifically, in the absence of a sound source in the headphones themselves, nothing will be heard. Even crackling and clicking sounds.

IMPORTANT: For those who like to experiment, we do not recommend connecting them with high resistance to the player. Such an action will not lead to anything good. The volume will be quite low, so the entire signal will be “eaten up” by the high resistance. And the device will begin to discharge in a matter of seconds.

What does impedance affect?

Resistance affects parameters such as sensitivity and operating time of specific objects. You should study all these technical indicators in detail before choosing headphones for your device.

Sensitivity.

This characteristic has a little to do with power, but more with the voltage and current categories. Many buyers are sure that sensitivity is identical to the concept of “loudness,” but this is not entirely true. This statement is more suitable when choosing speakers. In the case of headphones, this concept means something slightly different.

Sensitivity as a parameter should be related to voltage. Usually it is equal to one hundred decibels and will be the same for most models. As a rule, no company will release headphones with a rating above one hundred and forty. Human hearing cannot stand above one hundred and forty decibels!

Sensitivity should not be determined by an indicator such as power, but rather by voltage. This is the only way to compare headphones by “volume”.Please note that different headphones on the same devices sound at different volumes.

 ADVICE: A sound of less than one hundred decibels should not be chosen accurately. The sound may be too low. That no one will like for sure.

Operating period of the device.

Few people know, but high impedance increases the operating life of the device, and it needs to be charged less often. This is due to the fact that high-impedance headphone models consume less energy.

In the case of various sophisticated smartphones, a person is deprived of the opportunity to choose. Only models with low impedance are suitable here. The only way out of this situation is to look at those products that operate in the range of about thirty ohms. Then the level of charging consumption will be slightly lower.

When purchasing headphones, you should not be fooled by the beautiful packaging. Much more important are the filling and technical indicators. The marketing departments of large companies producing audio equipment and components spend a lot of money on design development and consumer surveys. In the understanding of most, cool models must have powerful bass. But knowledgeable people understand perfectly well that with such headphones you will quickly damage your hearing. They must have high-quality sound and the right type of impedance. Don’t forget about this when looking at the next bright “dummy”.

And you shouldn’t skimp on them, because they directly affect human hearing. Even if they do not look very presentable, but at the same time they are above the average price, do not think that they are trying to deceive you. It’s just that the manufacturer focused on quality rather than on the outer wrapper.